The Ice Prince and the Dobe
by kazuma85
Summary: Konoha high school gets a new student. Naruto doesn't get along with him too well. AU. Rated M for future Naruto-Sasuke.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note**: This is a new idea, and I don't know how often I'll post new chapters. I'm going through a block of some sorts but I managed to write this, so maybe more comes easier than I think :) We'll see. Hope you'll enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto and I do not make money out of writing fanfiction.

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xXx

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**The Ice Prince and the Dobe**

**Chapter 1**

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xXx

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Springtime in Japan meant a new beginning. Among other things, it meant a new school year, and a new school year brought both happiness and displeasure – depending on who you were.

A new school year also sometimes meant new students in your class. When you're sixteen, a new student could bring extreme happiness or displeasure, and at the moment, Uzumaki Naruto, along with his classmates, was drifting between the two possibilities.

It was the first day of school and their homeroom teacher, Umino Iruka, had just announced that a new student would be joining their class. Everyone's eyes got glued on the classroom door, awaiting the newcomer. The girls were wondering if it was going to be a new guy; the guys were hoping for the opposite – no surprise there.

Naruto rested his head in his hand, looking bored, but inwardly wondering how he'd get along with the new classmate. If it's a girl, would she be cuter and prettier than Sakura-chan? Well, that would be almost impossible. Naruto doubted there was _anyone_ cuter or prettier than Sakura-chan.

Then, on the other hand – if it's a guy, would he become as good a friend as Kiba? That was almost impossible as well, since Kiba was his best friend since elementary school.

Naruto watched the door slide open, a pale raven-haired boy entering the classroom. Iruka-sensei gave a friendly smile to the newcomer and putting a hand on the teen's shoulder, he turned to the class.

"Everyone, this is your new classmate."

And everyone stared expectantly.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the boy said in a steady, confident voice. "I'm glad to be here," he added, but without a smile that should usually follow those words.

"Well then, Sasuke-kun, have a seat and we'll begin the class."

Sasuke nodded and walked over to one of the empty seats in the last row, ignoring the way everyone stared at him. Naruto watched him, wondering if he was being so weird because he was new and nervous. As Sasuke sat down just behind Naruto's place, the blond turned over and smiled, offering a hand.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet ya, Sasuke."

The raven looked at him, then at his offered hand. It seemed as if he was contemplating whether to accept it or not. Naruto's wide grin faltered a bit. Sasuke blinked and slowly and reluctantly accepted the hand, squeezed it and nodded, but didn't say a word. Then he turned his focus on opening his bag and digging out a notebook, effectively avoiding the further conversation.

Naruto rolled his eyes and turned back on his seat, meeting gazes with Kiba. The brunet gave a shrug, showing that he didn't really care about the new guy.

So, Naruto could say that this time, the beginning of the new school year didn't bring him happiness. He soon realized that while it didn't bring him happiness, it definitely didn't stay in the neutral zone either – but brought him displeasure as well.

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A month after the school had begun, every girl in the school knew who Uchiha Sasuke was. They talked about him in the mornings before the classes would start, during recesses, during PE; they'd follow him around the school; they'd stare and swoon when he'd pass by them...

Naturally, all the other guys didn't exactly feel neglected. No, that wasn't the right word. They were being completely and totally ignored.

Naruto couldn't understand the situation. Before Sasuke had arrived, Hyuuga Neji, their sempai, was the one who was the main object of lust among the girls, but never to that extent. Naruto and Kiba were one of those who'd get an occasional love letter or a Valentine's Day chocolate... Then, some girls liked their laid-back genius friend, Shikamaru. Some liked the quiet gothic Gaara. Some liked the artistic weirdo Sai. Some liked the cuddly and warm Chouji...

The whole love-interest thing used to be more or less equally distributed, but now? Now it was getting ridiculous. _All_ the girls had gotten completely crazy about Sasuke. And the worst part was – Sasuke was so cool about it. He would sometimes talk to them, answer to some of the questions... But at the same time he seemed untouchable... That made them swoon even more.

Naruto hated it. What was so great about that Uchiha guy? If he thought about it, there was nothing wrong with Sasuke. His grades were excellent, the teachers loved him, he was handsome – Naruto couldn't argue that ... The girls were crazy about him... He was perfect.

It pissed Naruto off.

Okay, so he knew he wasn't being really fair – Sasuke had never done anything to insult him, but still, Naruto felt it in his core that the raven pissed him off. It was enough to look at him and he would get the urge to glare and snarl at the guy.

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One day, sitting in the school cafeteria, Naruto scowled the moment he saw Sasuke coming through the door. Sakura-chan and Ino were tagging along with him, giggling annoyingly.

"You really hate that guy, don't you," Kiba nudged him.

"Just look at them... Giggling and squealing... Stupid," the blond muttered. "Ever since he came here, Sakura-chan won't even talk to me!"

"Dude, she never wanted to talk to you," Kiba sniggered, earning a kick under the table.

"Some friend you are."

"Well it's true," the brunet shrugged, rubbing the sore spot on his shin.

"That may be," Naruto sighed, "but now, I really have no chance..."

"So... Instead of trying harder with Sakura, you're just gonna hate Uchiha's guts?"

"Yeah."

"Great plan," Kiba barked a laugh and soon both of them were howling from laughter, ignoring the weird looks it earned them. Kiba always managed to make his day, no matter what had caused it to be gloomy. Naruto couldn't care less if they were too loud or too weird.

Two warm, friendly hands descended on both of their shoulders. "You two forgot your sanity pills today?"

"Hey Shika," the blond giggled, "we're just laughing at our misery."

"_Your_ misery, Naruto," Kiba corrected.

"Yeah, that totally makes sense," Shikamaru snorted and plopped down on the chair next to Naruto, and opposite of Kiba. "Just move on... Girls are so troublesome..."

"Damn that Sasuke... Stole my chance with Sakura-chan..."

Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow. "What chance?" He deadpanned, causing Kiba to almost fall out of chair laughing. Shikamaru chuckled. "So anyway, even if you don't have a chance with Sakura, at least you know she won't end up with Uchiha."

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that the guy either deserves an Oscar, or he really doesn't give a shit about any of the girls screaming for him. Besides, he's always alone," Shikamaru added.

"Alone?"

"Yeah. If you don't count the girls and their screaming, I don't think he'd made a single friend since he got here."

"Oh," Naruto frowned. He knew what it felt like to be alone, without anyone to laugh with, to hang out with. He glanced across the cafeteria, seeing Sasuke sitting at one of the tables. Despite Sakura, Ino and several other girls, he really did seem alone. He seemed cool, ignoring the girls for the moment, but the look in his eyes was one that Naruto knew very well.

"Don't think so hard, you'll have a stroke," Kiba teased, nudging the blond's shoulder.

"Oh, ha-ha, very funny."

"Seriously, what were you thinking about?"

"Do you think we should've been friendlier when he came here?"

"Who, Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah..."

"Well, he didn't make any effort to try to be friendly with us, either," Kiba mused.

"But he's new..."

"Naruto, you said you hated him not five minutes ago. What's with you all of the sudden?" His best friend stared at him.

"You guys used to avoid me too, and now we're best friends," Naruto said quietly, remembering his past.

"Oh, well..." Kiba felt a slight burn of guilt in his chest. "So you... You don't want him to feel like you felt, huh?"

"Something like that."

Shikamaru smirked, not saying anything. Naruto had surely changed over the years. He used to be an obnoxious little prankster, literally screaming to get any attention. And now Shikamaru watched his blond friend standing up and walking towards Sasuke's table.

After several short sentences between Naruto and Sasuke...

"What do you mean 'dobe', you bastard!"

Well, scratch the screaming part. Shikamaru and Kiba winced as Naruto's voice carried through the cafeteria. The next thing they saw was Naruto yanking at the front of Sasuke's uniform, and Sasuke smirking at him.

"Say that to my face!"

"Dobe."

For a moment, Naruto looked like he was going to hit the other teen. After several seconds of staring at him, Naruto released him and snorted.

"Fine, then be all alone forever, see if I care."

"No one asked you to talk to me, Uzumaki."

"That's one mistake I'll never make again," the blond spat and got back to Kiba and Shikamaru. Now Chouji was at the table as well.

"Uhm... That went well," Chouji gave an awkward smile.

"Stupid prissy moron. I hate him."

"Oh, so we're back to that?" Kiba teased.

"Next time I have an idea like this, feel free to smack me."

"Noted," Shikamaru chuckled. "So, what happened there?"

"I came over there, trying to start a conversation. And he said he had no business talking to a dobe like me!" Naruto threw his hands up in exasperation. "Why is he so mean? Why dobe? I'm not an idiot! No one ever called me that before!"

"Wrong," Shikamaru interrupted. "Last week you wrote the worst math test in the history of math tests... Ibiki-san almost had a conniption. When Iruka-sensei found out about it later, he called you a dobe..."

"And to think no one ever listens to what he says," Naruto grumbled. Only Iruka-sensei had the right to tease him like that. He was like a father... Or an older brother to Naruto, ever since...

"Gaaah, I had enough! I don't care!"

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xXx

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The failed attempt at getting 'closer' to Sasuke proved to be a success, ironically. Sasuke had started to greet him every day. Naruto wanted to kill someone. Preferably Sasuke.

His days were filled with 'good morning dobe', 'how are you dobe' and 'forgot your homework again, dobe?'.

"Well, you wanted him to talk to you," Kiba shrugged.

"He's making fun of me!"

"Only because you're showing that it bugs you," Shikamaru smirked.

"So, I should just ignore him?"

"Yep."

"Until he gives up?"

"Yep."

"Right... Okay, so I'll do that. How hard can it be, right?"

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xXx

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Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Come again, sensei?"

Iruka sighed. "I said Uchiha and Uzumaki, I'm putting you together for an assignment."

"Why me? Why with _him_?"

Now Iruka was growing irritated. "Because 'Uzumaki' goes right after 'Uchiha'. I've paired up everyone that way."

"Well, can't you skip me?"

"Yeah, can't you skip him?" Ino asked hopefully.

"No I can't. No arguing, Naruto, Ino. It's gonna be that way and that's that!"

"What's the matter dobe, you're scared that I'll outsmart you?" Sasuke murmured teasingly from his seat behind Naruto.

The blond teen's eyebrow twitched in irritation. He turned and gave Sasuke the dirtiest look he could muster.

"We'll see about that, bastard."

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xXx

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And so, the extreme displeasure from having a new classmate had officially begun.

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To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**The Ice Prince and the Dobe**

**Chapter 2**

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**xXx**

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The library was quiet and mostly empty, save for the several students working early on their assignments. Naruto was sitting at one of the many tables, glaring daggers at his assignment partner.

Although, being called 'dobe' in every sentence shouldn't be too bad, Sasuke pronounced it in a way that made Naruto want to pull his own hair out. The blond didn't even notice that Sasuke was staring back at him.

"Intelligence isn't transferable. Stop staring at me, dobe."

Naruto sputtered and scowled, turning his attention to the book on the table.

"Found anything?" Sasuke asked.

"No, I'm too stupid, obviously," the blond hissed venomously.

"Hn."

After a few moments of silence, Naruto glanced up from his book. "You?"

"I might have," Sasuke murmured, writing something down in his notebook.

Naruto frowned. "Why are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like... A detached bastard."

A dark shadow quickly passed across Sasuke's features, but it disappeared even faster.

"That's... none of your business. We're not friends."

"I never said we were," Naruto grumbled.

"So why do you care if I'm a bastard? You're a moron, so we're even."

"What makes you think you can-" the blond started too loudly.

"Shhh!" The librarian scowled at both boys.

"Sorry," Naruto gave a sheepish smile to the mid-aged lady. He then glared at Sasuke and hissed. "Look what you made me do."

"You did it to yourself," Sasuke shrugged and tapped his pen against the notebook. "So anyway, take a look at this passage here, on page sixty-four," he pushed the book closer to Naruto.

"Oh. Right... How did I miss it," the blond scratched the back of his head.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Sasuke smirked.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "No, _thanks_."

"Why don't you go and make us two copies of this entire chapter?"

"Why me? You go!" Naruto again began to lose his temper.

This time Sasuke was the one to do the eye-roll.

"Because, Dobe, while you do that, I'll search for more. It's not like _you_ managed to find this. I'll be the brain, and you'll be... Well, Dobe."

As much as it irritated him, Naruto had to agree. Sasuke was better at noticing the small paragraphs of information they needed to do the assignment. And what assignment it was! They had to dig up any information about the oldest clans of Konoha, from _before_ when Konoha was founded. With that information, they had to draw up a sort of a family tree with the clans and their origins. And Iruka-sensei had made it a challenge by forbidding any use of the modern means. Only books were allowed. Old books. Which made Naruto sneeze way too often.

"Fine, your majesty," Naruto spat and stomped his way to the copy machine.

Sasuke hid a smirk behind his hand and continued to search for more information.

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**xXx**

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"Blaaah, I've had enough for today," Naruto grumbled, rolling his sore shoulders. He'd already copied fifty pages from four different books and, well, it was a good number for the first day. And they _did_ have a month to finish it all.

"Okay. I should be going home anyway," Sasuke agreed and began to close the books and put them in a pile that would await for them the next day.

Naruto eyed him shortly. "Where do you live?"

Sasuke seemed reluctant to answer that. He sighed. "That street behind the police station."

"What! Those are like... All mansions in that street! Wow, your family must be well-off."

Sasuke shrugged. It didn't seem like a big deal to him. "It's not like we had to buy the house. It was my grandfather's."

"So the Uchihas are from Konoha?"

"I guess we are."

"At least we have _something_ in common," Naruto grinned.

Sasuke snorted. "Hn. Whatever." He stood up from the library table. "You should give me your number."

"Why?"

"So I could contact you when you get lost on your way to the library tomorrow."

"Fine, smartass."

They exchanged numbers, both smirking when they saw what the other had put in the name box nex to the number in their cellphones. 'Ice Prince' and 'Dobe'.

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**xXx**

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When Sasuke came home, he took his usual route – straight to the kitchen to his mother. Ever since he was a little boy, he'd first come to his mother after returning from school.

"Kaasan, I'm home," he greeted, seeing his mom by the sink.

"Sasuke," Mikoto smiled gently. "How was your day?"

"Uneventful," he sighed and put his school bag on one of the chairs at the table. "How's Itachi?"

Mikoto's smile dropped. "He's in his room all day."

Sasuke nodded. "I'm going upstairs."

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**xXx**

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As he climbed the stairs, the heavy feeling in his stomach grew worse. While he was at school, he didn't think much about his brother, but every time he got home, he'd be struck with reality. Sasuke came to his brother's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in," said the soft voice.

The room was dark – the curtains were drawn together, but Sasuke could see the silhouette of his brother, sitting by the window with a book in his hands.

"Why are you in the dark again?" Sasuke asked softly, approaching his brother.

"It's the same either way."

A few moments of silence passed and Sasuke observed Itachi's fingers going over the raised dots on the opened page of the book. Itachi then reached to his desk and finding a bookmark, he put it between the pages and put the book away.

"Good book," Itachi drawled.

"Yeah?"

"Mm. But I like the movie better."

"You remember it?" Sasuke took a step closer.

"Of course I do. I can still see the scenes in my head," Itachi chuckled humorlessly.

He turned his head in Sasuke's direction and the teen's chest ached as the sightless eyes were set upon him.

"Come here, otouto," Itachi reached for him.

Sasuke took his hand and came to stand in front his brother. Slowly, Itachi's hands cupped his face and the cold fingers gently slid over his skin, over his cheekbones, his nose and closed eyelids.

"It's been three years since I've last been able to see you, little brother."

"You'll see me again, nii-san," Sasuke's throat threatened to close up.

Itachi sighed and ran his thumb where Sasuke's eyebrows got furrowed.

"Well, even if I don't , I'll never forget what you look like."

"You _will_ get your new transplant and it _will_ work this time," Sasuke said stubbornly.

"Alright, fine," Itachi smiled. "I'll believe what you say."

Sasuke covered his brother's hand with his own. "Will you come down for dinner?"

"Only if you smile for me, otouto."

And that's what Sasuke did. He gave his brother one of his rare, honest smiles.

"Good," Itachi ruffled his hair. "Now tell me, did you make friends with anyone yet?"

Sasuke smirked. "I might have, Nii-san. I might have."

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**xXx**

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To be continued...


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